The Test

by Robert Longley

  "Go spend some time with your family. You probably want to fill them in on all the details, including your son. He's hasn't seen any of this stuff yet. He'll find it interesting, but he won't tell anybody about it. I'll talk to you tomorrow.” "What's happening tomorrow?"

  "You'll see.”

  Chapter 27 - U-Turn

  Stephanie didn't seem to be too upset or even fazed by what just happened other than that was cool.

  “I can't wait to tell my friends.”

  I said, "Steph, you can't tell anybody about this.”

  "Why not? It was cool, and it happened to me and I didn't even get a selfie with the crash.”

  "Steph, in case you haven't figured it out, those people have tried to kill us a couple of times or come close to it.”

  "Why is that Anyways?"

  I figured that that was as good a time as any. I can always tell my son later. So, I started at the beginning, told her that I was a hundred years old and born in 1919. She seemed to be unfazed as usual and she asked, "So where did that truck and SUV come from?"

  "Remember earlier in the year when I disappeared for a couple of days, I was in that SUV when it was hit by the truck.”

  "That is way cool. Can we go back and take pictures of it?" "It probably won't even be there. They tend to clean things like this up before the news cameras or police show up."

  "So, I can't tell anybody about this?"

  "Sorry, Steph. Sometimes you have to keep secrets to protect the people you love."

  "But this is the coolest thing that ever happened to me?"

  "I can't tell people that I'm a hundred years old, or that I traveled back in time over 4000 years."

  "So are you like a spy or some part-time time traveler and the electronics and the solar business is just kind of a cover.” "Nope, that's all real. I've only time traveled once and hopefully, that'll be the last time.”

  "I bet it's cool."

  "Not as much as you might think.”

  "You get to see Stonehenge when it was almost new. That's pretty cool."

  "Yeah but look at it this way. No grocery stores, no TV, no internet.”

  "Yeah, that kind of sounds like it would suck.”

  "I also didn't know if I was coming home and as it turned out I didn't. Pretty much everybody I knew is gone and I had to start over with a whole new life. But then your mom came into my life and you and your brother. So, all in all, it's been pretty good."

  "Can I at least tell Donna and Michelle? They will think this is really cool."

  "No, you can't tell anyone ever. Hey, you're going to miss the exit up.”

  "Yep, you're right.”

  "But that sort of makes you a spy too"

  Stephanie smiled. I think she liked the idea. I had a feeling I would eventually regret planting that thought in her brain.

  We were almost back to Princeton. We pull up to the gate, the guard hands us a 30-minute parking pass and says, "Okay, do you know where the dorms are?"

  I said "Yes.”

  He responds, "Have fun getting your daughter moved in."

  Stephanie goes, "thanks" and smiles at him.

  "He thinks I look old enough to go here.”

  I said, "Not on your life. You’ve got two more years. Don't grow up fast. You already are growing up too fast.”

  When we got back to the room, Kelly says, "How did it go?"

  "I think it went ok."

  "Mom, you wouldn't believe what happened.”

  "Not here. Steph you can tell her later.”

  My son was pretty much moved in. A computer, a couple of posters and some cloths and he was good to go. "What about you Ritesh? Are you all set?"

  "Yes. My, my parents couldn't be here. They just sent me with my stuff'"

  "Well, you're more than welcome come up and spend time with us when your family's not around or use our stuff when you need it.”

  "Thank you very much. I think I will be okay.”

  "Hi Ritesh, my name's Stephanie.”

  "He got that and you're not coming back to go partying with your brother."

  About that time, there was a knock on the door. "Hi, I'm Professor Douglas. I'm your son's advisor. I believe we met the other day. Did you enjoy the tour?"

  Under his breath, he says "I take it everything went well"

  "Yes, very much," I said.

  "Glad to hear it. Everything okay here."

  "Perfect"

  "Well, I just wanted to check-in. My office is always open to you and we're looking forward to having you as a student. I hear good things about you."

  "I'm sure you do.” I said.

  He smiled, "Well I won't keep you. I've got some other students to meet. Just wanted to check-in, make sure everything was set and your parents were in good shape to go home" as he winked at me.

  I wanted to bring my son up to speed on what was going on, but this was not the time. His sister wasn't going to say much to him. They never really talked to anyways and he was trying to just be a student. I wanted him to enjoy his first few days here at school. I wasn't going to give him information that would change his view of reality. So, with that, we said our goodbyes and headed home.

  Chapter 28 - The Final Act

  I slept pretty well the night after dropping Michael off. I knew I was going to miss him, but I knew it was a great step forward for him. My daughter was planning what she was going to do with his room since hers was not enough. I wondered what was going to be happening when I got into the office this morning. It was time to get going.

  I said, "I think everything's going to be okay.”

  She says, "I sure hope so. Getting a little tired of this.”

  "You and me both."

  I headed to the office.

  When I got there, Shirley says, "Those gentlemen are here again."

  "Ok. Where are they?"

  "They're in your office.”

  "Not a problem.”

  I walked in.

  "It's like you guys just don't give up. Do you?

  So, which are you Smith or Jones?" "I'm agent Johnson."

  "Well, that's a new one. I just want my life back or at least I want this life back. Is that something we can do?"

  "It depends"

  "I'm pretty sure I have what you want."

  "We just want the Einstein papers. Do you think you can do that for us?"

  "Can I have that in writing?"

  "No, since we don't officially exist. But then you don't exist either, do you sir?"

  "Well, it may not be my life, but it's the only one I've got. So, here's the deal. I made copies of everything. They're in a safe place. If anything happens to me or my family, blah, blah, blah. You know how this works. You get the originals. If I never hear from you again, you'll never hear from me again. Real simple."

  "Just give us the papers and we'll be out of your hair.” I felt like a cat playing with a mouse. I figured I'd messed with them long enough and they didn't seem to pose any threat at this point. I went to my safe, opened it up, grabbed the packet and handed it to them.

  I said, "for real, you guys go away after I hand you this?" "Yep, we go away.” He said.

  I handed them the packet. They opened it up.

  "All right sir. Thank you very much."

  They grabbed their things and walked out of my office. Wow. That was easier than I thought. As they walked out to the parking lot, I walked to the window. I wanted to make sure that they were leaving. I probably stood there for about five minutes waiting for them to return but they didn’t. I thought, well that's it. That's the end of the story. I can go back to my normal life. Then Shirley walked in.

  "I didn't want to disturb you while those guys were here. I know it's that secret agent stuff."

  "What's up Shirley?"

  "Fred passed out at his desk" she said.

  "What do you mean passed out?"

  "He got a really big order this morning and he passed out from the excitement."

  Fred wa
s drinking a little bit of water when I got over to his desk and had an ice pack on his head. He wasn't looking any worse for wear other than a key on his keyboard had popped off from where he hit it.

  "So, you landed a big fish this morning, Fred?"

  "I'll say! Totally out of the blue, some investment group out of the Midwest. They want a hundred-megawatt solar array with an option on a second array."

  That is huge. This is completely out of the blue. I'm not sure how we got it without bidding on it.

  "He said his grandfather had worked with your grandfather, and that was good enough for him."

  Nothing quite like a few hundred million dollars in sales to start the morning.

  "Where did you say it was Fred?"

  "It's two sites, one in Nebraska and one in Kansas.

  I guess we'll be out at the other office quite a bit."

  "Did you get the name of the company?"

  "No. It's in my notes. Henry someone."

  "Ah, yes, I know who that is."

  I was wondering how long it would take for them to get around to doing business with us.

  "Fred, when the ringing in you ears stops, you might want to finish up the paperwork and give your wife a call. Tell her to start picking out colors for that new car that you're about to buy. Good job, Fred."

  "Thanks" Fred said.

  "It takes a patient man to land a big fish." I knew that wasn't the case, but Fred had a rough year so far and this made his decade. I went back into my office and no sooner did they sit down, and my cell phone rang. I picked it up.

  "Hello."

  "Hey, it's Henry. How's it going?"

  "Good other than a dazed salesman."

  "I guess we're going to be seeing a lot more of you the next few months."

  "I'm not sure whether to say thank you or not."

  "Just say thank you. This is a good thing. Did things go okay with the guys in sunglasses?"

  "I told them that I would release the information if anything happened to me or my family. They said fine. I gave them the pouch and they left. I think that was it."

  "Well, it should be. It will take them two to three years to figure out that it's not complete. Then they will have run into a dead-end and won't bother you anymore anyways."

  "I thought you guys had a nuclear reactor."

  "Yeah. Those NASA things are only good for a few years and they were designed for spacecraft. They're not designed for what we're using it for. Solar is a lot more predictable (or at least it will be in a few years). It also cuts down on us blacking out parts of the United States."

  "So, what's going to happen with my son and Professor Douglas? I can't imagine that he was there just for me to find the papers."

  "Oh No, nope. He's there to encourage the best minds and make sure that they get on the right path so to speak." "Which means what for my son?"

  "Well, he's got one patent under his belt. He knows the process. Smart Kid. Let's just say Douglas is going to be a mentor. He’s going to give him a few ideas that'll lead to other patents. You're going to be very proud of him."

  "I already am."

  "Well, you're going to be really proud of him. Have you ever been to a Nobel Prize ceremony?"

  "So, does that mean you know the future?"

  "Not Exactly. We just have technology that we can't release into the public without plausible explanations."

  "So, does that mean I get to go back to my normal, if not borrowed life?"

  "Pretty much. You keep our secret, we keep your secret. Everybody's secrets are safe. When you fill in your son on the details of your life, you don't need to tell him about Douglas. Let that evolve on its own. Michael doesn't need to know."

  "Yeah, you're probably right. I'm not sure whether to curse you or thank you. But it is nice to see a familiar face after all these years."

  "Same here. You know, there are still about a dozen of us missing. It's getting harder to find possible anomalies in the timeline.”

  "They probably found their place in history and just blended in and lived out their lives."

  "It doesn't always work that way, but we wish it would."

  "When we work with you as a customer, we won't be dealing out of the pawnbroker's office will we?"

  "No – we don't want to draw any attention to that facility. We have a real office in Chicago. Not to worry."

  "All right, Henry, I've got a salesman that might have a concussion and I'd like to get some of the paperwork started on this little project of yours."

  "I guess we're going to be at this for a few years. You actually can bring your son into this. This will be a fun project for him during the summers."

  "Yeah, I think he would like that."

  "You're part of the family now."

  "Why is it when you say that, it sounds like we're joining the Mafia?"

  "No, it's nothing like that. When the mafia disappears people, the police usually find the bodies."

  "That's funny, Henry."

  "All right, chief get busy on that paperwork. We've got about 24 months left on this reactor before we start to have a problem."

  "Okay. Talk to you soon."

  I'm not sure if Fred was woozy from the concussion or the fact that he just made us a half a billion-dollar sale. But either way, I said, "Probably time to go home.” So, I called his wife and told her about the concussion and asked her to come to pick him up. Marcie was a very soft-spoken housewife of 40 years, gardener and bridge club champion. She was a little nervous most of the time, so I didn't want to upset her. I said he had a little surprise and he could share it with her, so she wasn't as worried. I watched her pull up to the front in her 1996 Toyota Corolla. (Fred often bragged it had enough miles to go to the moon and back.) Fred walked out to the car with the ice pack on his head. I could see they were having a conversation. Fred was never really good at getting to the point. I could tell when he got there because Marcie had just opened the passenger side door for him to get in. She sort of froze as he was sitting down. Next thing I hear is, "Holy Shit. Holy Shit.” Marcie had finally found her voice. I guess that's what happens when you become a millionaire. She was so excited she shut Fred's head in the door. Now he had bumps on both sides. I hoped she was at least ok to drive.

  I started the paperwork for Fred and got contracts off to Henry to sign. The first wire transfer of $10 million came in later that afternoon. It's amazing how efficient these guys can be. So, I just took it as fate and decided to head home for the weekend. There were still a few good weekends left at the lake that I wanted to get in.

  Since I seemed to be getting my life back, the lake is where I wanted to be. When I got home, I told Kelly the whole story.

  "Poor Fred"

  "Not anymore," I said. When I got to the part about the solar array Stephanie happened to walk in the room. "Does this mean I get a new car?"

  "No, you don't get a new car."

  "Can I have the Camaro?"

  "No, but I think you and the Prius can spend more time together. I think I should start driving the Camaro more."

  Stephanie smiles. "I'm going to go over to Donna's for the night."

  “All right. Don't stay out too late.”

  "Kelly, do you want to go to the lake for the weekend? I really could use some kayaking."

  "You know, I think you could use some alone time. I've got work to do at the office and I think you could probably just use a break. Get some kayaking in and just chill."

  "You know what? I think that's what I'll do."

  The next morning, I kissed Kelly goodbye, hopped in the Camaro and headed north. I stopped at the Silo Restaurant for a couple of cider donuts and then continued up to the house. I took the doctor's order and spent pretty much the entire day on the lake kayaking. I did a little painting, had a couple of beers and watch the sunset. It was almost perfect for a hundred-year-old man. I was leading a pretty good life even if it wasn't the one, I started with.

  I had probably one of the best night
's sleep I'd had in months. The mountain air is quite the cure-all. The leaves in the Adirondacks had already started to change. The days were warm, and the nights were cool. It makes for great sleeping weather. That is until you get a phone call at six o'clock in the morning.

  "Hello?"

  "Yeah, it's Henry."

  "It's a little early. What's up?"

  "So, we just found one of our friends from a long time ago, Tom. Yeah, he's in South America, around one thousand A.D. Do you want to go meet him?"

  “I'm guessing I'll meet him at your facility when I'm out there next.”

  “No – now, in his timeline." Henry said.

  "Don't you have people for that?"

  "Yeah, but we'd like to send somebody familiar and most of the staff here has the flu. That could mess things up."

  "Let me think about it for a minute."

  "Think fast, the window is closing."

  I got dressed and went downstairs to get a cup of coffee but was immediately greeted with a blue glow in my living room. I could see Henry on the other side.

  "So, are you coming?"

  I said, "You know, there's no time like the present."

  "Yes, there is. There are lots of them and you've only seen three."

  "Will I be back in time for work?"

  "Absolutely!" Henry said.

  "Sure. Why not."